Adjustable roll-supporting spindle



March 25, 1969 1. zUcKr-:RMAN

l ADJUSTABLE ROLL-SUPPORTING SPINDLE Filed July 18, 1967 vm, @TI

vm E) mv vv uw wm www mm A I A N K J//// /VVF l` J l f lh L /VV/M JNM- wm Qmw Q V/w/ /V N vm vw Nmw mw vm mv uw S NS NN United States Patent Office 3,434,675 Patented Mar. 25, 1969 3 434 675 ADJUSTABLE ROLL-SPPORTING SPINDLE Ira Zuckerman, Far Rockaway, N.Y., assignor t Panther l/Iachine Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New ork Filed July 18, 1967, Ser. No. 654,188 Int. Cl. B65h 75/18 U.S. Cl. 242-72 4 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention The present invention relates to adjustable spindles, and particularly to spindles which are adapted to support rolls of sheet material. Thus, the structure of the invention may be used for supporting a roll of cloth which is to be laid Out on a cutting table with successive layers of cloth precisely situated one on top of the other. Rolls of cloth can be wound onto suitable hollow core members and these core members will conventionally have ditierent interior diameters. In order to securely grip any roll of cloth, regardless of the internal diameter of the core, it is necessary for the spindle to be circumferentially adjustable so as to it tightly within the core.

Thus, if the spindle loosely supports the roll of sheet material as to allow a considerable clearance between the spindle and the core on which the sheet material is wound, then the roll of sheet material will not be precisely rotated because of its play on the spindle7 and the layers of sheet material cannot be fed evenly or be precisely situated one on top of the other.

While there are known spindle constructions which are adjustable so as to be adapted to the particular inner diameter of the core which carries the roll of sheet material, these known constructions are relatively complex and diflicult to adjust. Furthermore, the adjusting structure requires a considerable amount of manual actuation in order to bring about a relatively small extent of adjustment, so that the operations required to carry out the adjustments are extremely inconvenient.

Summary of the invention It is accordingly a primary object of the present invenr tion to provide an adjustable spindle of the above general type which can be quickly and conveniently varied in etiective diameter so as to be adapted to the particular inner diameter of a core which carries a roll of sheet material.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exceedingly simple structure which is easy to operate and which lwill reliably adapt itself to the inner diameter of the core.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction which requires a relatively small number of simple rugged elements in order to achieve the desired results in a highly reliable manner.

In accordance with the invention the adjustable spindle has an elongated hollow tube on which a plurality of units are located, these units being longitudinally distributed along the tube and adapted to be situated within the interior of a core which carries a roll of sheet material so Cir `as to engage the core and support the roll properly on the spindle. Each of the adjustable units has a pair of rings which surround and slidably engage the tube and a plurality of longitudinally-extending leaf springs distributed about the tube and extending between the rings of each unit, with each leaf spring having a pair of opposed ends respectively fixed to the pair of rings of each unit. An adjusting means of the invention coacts with the rings of each unit for simultaneously displacing both of these rings either toward or away from each other so as to control the extent to which the leaf springs are bowed between the rings of each unit, and thus cause the leaf springs to press against the inner surface of the core which carries the roll of sheet material, so as to properly support the latter on the spindle.

Brief description of the drawings taken along line 3-3 of Description of i preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, the adjustable spindle 10 of the present invention is shown as including an elongated hollow tube 12 made of any suitable rigid metal. This tube 12 carries a plurality of the adjustable units 14 of the invention, which units a-re longitudinally distributed along and carried by the tube 12 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1. At its left end, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tube 12 extends into and is fixed to a hollow sleeve 16, as by having a press fit in the latter. If desired, pins 18 may extend through bores of the sleeve 16 and may be provided with reduced ends received in bores 20 of the tube 12 for fixing the latter to the sleeve 16. This sleeve 16 is supported in the well-known manne-r on the structure which carries the spindle 10, for example on spaced upright supports forming part of a fabric spreading machine, so that the spindle can rotate with the roll of sheet material during unwinding of the latter. In order to prevent axial movement of the spindle, the sleeve 16 is provided with an annular groove 22 which seats upon the support for the spindle.

Each of the units 14 includes a pair of rings 24 which surround and slidably engage the tube 12 at the exterior of the latter. A plurality of elongated leaf springs 26 also form part of each unit and extend longitudinally along and are uniformly spaced about the circumference of tube 12. In the illustrated example there are four leaf springs 26 for each of the units 14, which leaf springs are angularly spaced by from each other about the tube 12. Each leaf spring 26 has its opposed ends fixed to the rings 24 of each unit, and for this purpose each ring 24 carries a collar 28 which clamps the ends of the springs 26 thereto.

In accordance -with the invention an adjusting means is provided for simultaneously displacing the pair of rings 24 of each unit simultaneously toward or away from each other so as to control the extent to which the leaf springs 26 are bowed and thus control the pressin-g of the leaf springs 26 against the inner surface of a cylindrical core which carries the roll of sheet material. This adjusting means includes, for each unit 14, a pair of oppositely threaded nuts 30 and 31 situated within the tube 12, slidably engaging its inner surface, and coaxialljy surrounded by the respective rings 24 with a plurality of longitudinally-extending elongated slots 32, and in the illustrated example, each set comprises four slots uniformly distributed about the axis of the tube 12 at each ring 24. Each ring 24 is coupled to a respective nut 30 or 31 by means of a radially-disposed pin 34 extending slidably through a respective slot 32. Each pin 34 has an enlarged head received in a suitable bore of lring 2.4, and a reduced terminal threaded end received in a threaded bore of the nut 30` or 31. In this manner, the inner nuts 30 or 31 are respectively fixed to the outer rings 24 in alignment therewith for axial movement therewith longitudinally along the tube 12. On the other hand, the pins 34 coact with the slots 32 so as to prevent turning movement of both the nuts 30, 31 and -rings 24 relative to the tube 12.

The adjusting means further includes a central rod extending through the interior of the tube 12 and formed of pairs of adjacent oppositely threaded rod sections 36 and 37. A pair of trod sections 36 and 37 are provided for each adjustable unit 14, and, as exemplified by the pair shown in FIG. 2, the rod section 36 receives the nut 30 and matches the threading thereof, while the rod section 37 receives the nut 31 and matches the threading thereof. Thus, successive pairs of oppositely-threaded rod sections 36 and 37 extend coaxially within the interior of tube 12 along the length thereof, with the rod sections 36, threaded in one direction, alternating with the rod sections 37 which are threaded in the opposite direction. In order to x the adjacent ends of successive rod sections 36 and 37 coupling sleeves 38 are employed. As shown in FIG. 2, each sleeve 38 slidably engages the inner surface of the tube 12 and receives one end of a rod section 36 and the adjacent end of the next rod section 37. The ends of the lrod sections are secured within the coupling sleeves 38 by set screws 40 which extend through and are recessed within threaded bores in the sleeves 38 and engage respective recesses formed in the ends of the rod sections 36 and 37. All of the rod sections are thus secured together in axial alignment, for rotation as a unit. Thus, all of the units 14 will be adjusted simultaneously when all of the rod sections 36 and 37, which extend through the several units, turn together.

In order to provide for simultaneous turning of the central rod made up of all of the rod sections 36 and 37, the end rod section 36, shown in FIG. 2, is affixed to a cylindrical shaft 42 which extends rotatably through the interior of the sleeve 16 and into the end of tube 12. The end of f said rod section 36 is received within a blind axial bore 44 at the end of shaft 42, and is secured therein by means of a set screw 46. It will be noted that the sleeve 16 carries an additional set screw 48 by which it is fixed to the tube 12. A collar 50 surrounds and is fixed to the shaft 42 so that, while the latter can turn with respect to the tube 12, it cannot move axially with respect thereto. The outer end of the shaft 42 carries a hand wheel 52, shown at the left in FIG. 1, so that by grasping and turning the wheel 52, the shaft 42 and the connected rod sections 36 and 37 are rotated with the tube 12.

Thus, with the structure of the invention when it is desired to mount a roll of sheet material on the adjustable spindle, the shaft 42 is manually turned, by means of the wheel 52, in a direction which will simultaneously move the rings 24 of each unit 14 apart from each other, so as to displace the central bowed portions of the leaf springs 26 radially inward toward the tube 12. In this way the roll of sheet matenal can easily be slipped onto the spindle. Then the shaft 42 is turned in the opposite direction causing the rings 24 of each unit 24 to be simultaneously displaced toward each other, thus providing for outward bowing of the leaf springs 26 so that the latter will press against the inner surface of the cylindrical core which carries the roll of sheet material. The springs thus grip the cylindrical core securely and the latter will be reliably supported on the spindle in a position in which its axis precisely coincides with the axis of the spindle.

Because each of the units 14 of the invention includes a pair of rings 24 which aire simultaneously displaced toward and away from each other, the extent to which the shaft 42 need be manually turned to bring about adjustment of the springs 26 is relatively small to provide a given degree of adjustment. In other words, if only one ring 24 were axially movable, it would be necessary to turn the shaft 42 through twice the distance that it is turned with the structure of the invention in order to bring about a given adjustment of the leaf spring 26. Because the leaf springs 26 are simultaneously adjusted at both of their ends the adjustment required with the structure of the invention can be very quickly and conveniently carried out. In addition, it will be noted that with the structure of the invention it is easy to assemble the various components, and they are all of simple, rugged construction, providing a highly reliable operation.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that numerous omissions, changes and additions may be made in such embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable spindle for supporting a roll of sheet material, comprising an elongated tube, a plurality of units spaced along and carried by said tube for directly supporting a roll which surrounds said tube and through which said tube extends, each of said units including a pair of rings axially slidable on and surrounding said tube and a plurality of leaf springs extending between said rings, said leaf springs being circumferentially distributed about and extending longitudinally of said tube, and each having opposed ends ixed to said rings, and adjusting means including for each unit a pair of nuts coaxial with said rings thereof and fixed to said rings for axial movement therewith along said tube, and a plurality of coaxial threaded rods iixed to each other extending -coaxially along the interior of said tube and respectively having for each unit a pair of adjoining ends situated within said tube between the nuts of each unit, and a sleeve extending over said adjoining ends of the rods and fixed thereto within said tube thereby fixing said rods to each other for turning movement together, said threaded rods being oppositely threaded and threadedly engaging and extending through said nuts, so that in response to common turning of said threaded rods said nuts and said rings are simultaneously advanced toward or away from each other to adjust the extent to which said leaf springs are bowed.

2. An adjustable spindle according to claim 1 wherein said nuts are situated within and are slidable along an inner surface of said tube, said tube being formed with longitudinally extending slots, and a plurality of pins respectively fixed to said nuts and extending through said slots to said rings, said pins being fixed to said rings to constrain the latter to move with said nuts while preventing turning of said rings and nuts with respect to said tube while said pins move long said slots during axial displacement of said rings and nuts.

3. An adjustable spindle according to 'claim 2` wherein a threaded rod which extends from one unit extends through a nut of the next unit.

4. An adjustable spindle according to claim 3 wherein an elongated manually-turnable shaft extends into said tube and is fixed to an outer end of one of said threaded rods for turning the latter and all of the other rods therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,443,243 6/ 1948 Hayssen 242-7 2.1 2,809,674 10/ 1957 Ward. 3,113,744 12/ 1963 Nisenson 242-72 NATHAN L. MINTZ, Primary Examiner. 

